Joe
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- Oct 18, 2007
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The first time I came to BA in 2009, I rented an apartment for one month, sight unseen, near the corner of Juncal and Libertad. The apartment was in the front and on the second floor. As many of you have guessed by now, this was a disastrous choice. Juncal is a very narrow street at that point and endless collectivos rumble past only a few meters away from this apartment.
So what are your strategies for getting a quiet apartment?
Here are mine:
I'm currently in Ecuador and there is a noise problem that I've never encountered before in any other country. Everyone here has these awful after-market car alarms of the type that use to be popular in North America about 20 years ago. The kind that cycle through about 8 varieties of alarm. Here in Ecuador you often walk past a car with the occupant inside with the alarm going off. Or sometimes people just play with the alarm, turning it on (Beep) turning it off (Beep, Beep) if they are waiting in the car. Since I made the mistake of renting an apartment near a bank and some other retail establishments I would hear the bloody car alarms all day. It wasn't rare that multiple car alarms were going off simultaneously. I was wondering if Colombia also has this car alarm culture. I spent an extended period in Peru and there was NOT this car alarm issue.
So what are your strategies for getting a quiet apartment?
Here are mine:
- Visit the apartment if you are local
- Contrafrente (back of the building) apartments are preferable. High floor is better for more light.
- Middle apartments (interno?) avoid at all cost (no sun, reflected noise and cooking smells)
- Front apartments on a very high floor, if contrafrente is not available. Check how many buses go by.
- In general the older the building the better the sound insulation. New glass towers are the worse. You can even hear your neighbors' tinkling.
I'm currently in Ecuador and there is a noise problem that I've never encountered before in any other country. Everyone here has these awful after-market car alarms of the type that use to be popular in North America about 20 years ago. The kind that cycle through about 8 varieties of alarm. Here in Ecuador you often walk past a car with the occupant inside with the alarm going off. Or sometimes people just play with the alarm, turning it on (Beep) turning it off (Beep, Beep) if they are waiting in the car. Since I made the mistake of renting an apartment near a bank and some other retail establishments I would hear the bloody car alarms all day. It wasn't rare that multiple car alarms were going off simultaneously. I was wondering if Colombia also has this car alarm culture. I spent an extended period in Peru and there was NOT this car alarm issue.